Saturday, February 07, 2009

Chart Notes With Gordon Murray

We parse the numbers, suggest remedial listening
By Gordon Murray Euge Groove is on top for a fifth consecutive week with "Religify" (Narada Jazz/Capitol), increasing his lead to 63 despite losing a few spins. "Religify" is now tied with Groove's first BDS chart hit, "Get Em Goin'" (Narada Jazz/BLG), which spent five weeks at No. 1 in December 2005.

Most Increased Plays might as well be renamed the Boney James Award: "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" (Concord/CMG) is Most Increased for the fourth consecutive week (+48), and the song has only been on the chart for five weeks!

On the Indicator side we have a new No. 1 this week: Michael Lington's "You and I" (NuGroove) moves 2-1 in its 22nd chart week. In the BDS chart era, Lington's only other No. 1s were on Smooth Jazz Recurrents: "Pacifica" (Rendezvous) and "It's Too Late" (Rendezvous). "You and I" is up 5-4 (+18, fifth Most Increased) on the monitored list in its 23rd chart week.

Recommended Listening: Renee Olstead must be as mature in life as her voice sounds in song, as she proves that patience pays off: Indeed, her second album, "Skylark" (143/Reprise), was worth waiting nearly five years for. Simply put, the songs on "Skylark" are stunningly beautiful. Olstead sings classics effortlessly, adds spice with promising originals and gives us great guest stars (Chris Botti and Robert Randolph) and surprisingly swinging music from David Foster. Her youth is only evident in the pictures in the album case, for it's her incredible talent that soars, just like the track listing, written in the shape of a bird, on the cover of the CD. Any one of my three favorite songs alone -- "Midnight Man," Percy Mayfield's "Hit the Road Jack" and "Midnight in Austin Texas" -- make this album well worth your time and money. I just hope there's more Renee before 2014!